Tag Archives: Amherst College

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human trafficking

When we wrote about Amherst College’s efforts in 2012 to deal more effectively with on-campus sexual assault, we noted that “colleges and universities have often been silent, even secretive” when it comes to addressing the issue. There’s still room for improvement, but higher education institutions have taken large steps forward.

To a large degree, these changes have been driven by social media and a new transparency fostered by students and some institutions. While President Obama’s White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault proposed a number of measures this past April, it was the Department of Education’s release of a list of 55 institutions currently facing “sexual violence investigations” a few days later that made waves.

An online community

Students themselves have stepped up, using social media to share their experiences and best practices to avoid assault. This transparency has eroded the ability of colleges and universities to keep the issue behind closed doors. “More college women have become willing to speak publicly about their ordeals thanks to social media,” Nina Burleigh observes in her June 2014 Rolling Stone piece “Confronting Campus Rape.” Research by Chris Linder, an associate professor at the University of Georgia, has taken a closer look at social media’s role in sexual assault activism. And this NPR report describes how it has empowered more students to step up to the plate and take matters into their own hands.

The U.S. Senate  introduced a bill over the summer to create a public campus assault database. For colleges and universities that have been less than transparent in their handling of the issue, the database will “amount to a public shaming,” according to NYTimes.com blog The Upshot. In September the White House launched “It’s on Us,” which WIRED’s Margaret Rhodes describes as a “smart branding campaign against sexual assault.” The campaign’s website allows users to integrate their own photo into a logo. Rhodes explains, “The tactic is similar to when the Human Rights Campaign logo went viral over social media in 2013, but with some more customization.”

These positive trends seem to be gaining momentum. Students and government have taken the first step of introducing transparency to the issue. In doing so they have changed the reputation management equation. Now, the best way for a school to protect its reputation is to preserve the safety and welfare of its students.

 
 
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Sexual assault is epidemic on college campuses, but the New York Times’ Richard Pérez-Peña reports that recently appointed Amherst College president Biddy Martin is poised for a major breakthrough on this controversial issue.

Colleges and universities have often been silent, even secretive, when it comes to cases of on-campus sexual assault, according to the nonprofit Center for Public Integrity. But striving to preserve the image and standing necessary to compete in the world of higher education, can compromise not just standards of accountability and transparency, but also the safety and welfare of their students.

“In spite of a recent Department of Education directive requiring schools to investigate sexual assault under Title IX, many schools would rather cover up a reported rape to maintain the school’s reputation,” Whitman College student Rachel Alexander recently wrote in a blog post for The Nation. That sentiment has been echoed widely by many others, including a former Amherst student whose account of her own horrifying experience “dominated campus conversations and “drew worldwide attention,” according to Pérez-Peña.

Agents for change

Amherst’s Dr. Martin has emerged as a leader on this issue, quickly moving to address the incident on her campus openly and on multiple fronts, including with a direct and candid letter to the Amherst community and an ongoing “Action Checklist” documenting the steps that the college is taking to deal with the issue.

Dr. Martin previously sought ambitious changes at the University of Madison-Wisconsin and Cornell University with mixed results, but her latest move is likely her biggest and boldest yet, bringing together her scholarship in gender studies with leadership prowess and steely resolve. “The events unfolding at Amherst could be the catalyst for unprecedented change there,” writes Inside Higher Ed’s Allie Grasgreen. “Martin’s response should be a model for other universities,” according to Colby Bruno of the Victim Rights Law Center. The president struck a similar note in her aforementioned letter: “Amherst, given its values, its commitment to community, and its size should be a model of education, prevention, and effective response when violations occur.”

Biddy Martin has shown no signs that she’ll trade in such principles for a more conventional and superficial public relations strategy, and administrators on college campuses everywhere would be wise to follow suit. “It’s an incredible opportunity to have a conversation about this issue,” she told the Times. “These are the kinds of things I think we’re alive to think about.”